In an extraordinarily intense and emotional production of "All My Sons," now at Court Theatre, director Charles Newell approaches Arthur Miller's great American play as if it were a Greek tragedy. Miller was interested in tragedy, of course, and believed in the idea of ordinary Americans as tragic heroes. But that's not what Newell is doing. John Judd's Joe Keller — he who sent out cracked cylinder heads rather than lose his government contracts in World War II — is no flawed everyman. He's a raging rat, caught in a trap of his own design. This staging gives no one any place to hide. Through Feb. 18 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.; $44-$74 at 773-753-4472 and www.courttheatre.org

Rogelio Martinez's "Blind Date" is a world premiere drama that returns us to the 1985 meeting in Geneva between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Martinez writes with affection for all sides; "Blind Date," which is directed by Robert Falls, may well be the only play I ever have seen that treats Reagan sympathetically. And Deanna Dunagan certainly grabs hold of the role of Nancy Reagan. She is utterly believable. This play intrigues rather than grips — it doesn't inject much dramatic tension into the proceedings — but it's well worth seeing. Through Feb. 25 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $20-$75 at 312-443-3800 and www.goodmantheatre.org

"Blue Man Group" has been playing at Briar Street since 1997, a remarkable run of 20 years. There have been only two major overhauls in that time; the latest adds selfie sticks, new music and a livelier finale. I'd argue the Blue Men need a bigger overhaul — they still chomp marshmallows, bang drums and paint up audience members — but this remains a fine gateway for the young into the arts. If you've never had the pleasure, go. Open run at the Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted St.; $49-$69 at www.ticketmaster.com

A sleep-deprived woman heads into a Brookstone. "What about a demo of this white noise machine?" asks the African-American salesman. "I don't have one black friend, I have two ..." That chance for everyone to laugh at race got a huge response at Second City, where the terrific new revue "Dream Freaks Fall From Space" (directed by Ryan Bernier) is a return to form for the storied Chicago company. All great Second City mainstage revues — and I'd put this one in the top 10 of the last 20 — fear not the absurd, and realize you can hit all the harder against ignorance and prejudice when you engage your audience. Open run on the Second City Mainstage, 1616 N. Wells St., $29-$46 at 312-337-3992 or www.secondcity.com

"Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno" is an inclusive and warmhearted new e.t.c. Theater show, directed by Ryan Bernier, that takes a broad view of the moment. There have been edgier revues on the e.t.c. stage, but this crew is so funny you worry some coastal talent-spotters soon will steal them away. Katie Klein's old-school parody of affirmative women's daytime talk shows — "What's Up Girl?" — is probably the richest material of the night. Open run in Second City e.t.c. Theater in Piper's Alley, 1608 N. Wells St.; $19-$46 at 312-337-3992 or www.secondcity.com

If you like the plays of Annie Baker, I suspect you'll appreciate "Five Mile Lake," a thoroughly wintry and rather gorgeously written little play in which not much happens. With their true feelings and emotions hidden in subtext, Rachel Bonds' characters just lead their lives of quiet coffeehouse desperation. Among them are graduate student named Rufus (Joseph Wiens) and his struggling wife (Aila Peck). His brother (Steve Peebles is the one who stayed behind in this small town. These observational works require detailed and vulnerable acting, and that is what director Cody Estles' production delivers. Through Feb. 24 by Shattered Globe at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.; $35 at 773-975-8150 and www.shatteredglobe.org

Of all the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin probably did the most to spread the enlightened idea of America. But there's another part of his legacy — an illegitimate son, William Franklin. Their relationship is explored in a play by writer Lloyd Suh called "Franklinland." Penned in a breezy, anarchic style (a la "Hamilton") and over in just 70 minutes, it zeroes in on the difficulty of having an overachieving dad, especially one who proves persistently difficult to please. As played in director Chika Ike's production by Tom Hickey and Kai Ealy, it's sympathetic toward both men. Through Feb. 24 at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway; $30 at www.jackalopetheatre.org

This Broadway show has given Chicago a Chicago-style production. The heartland "Hamilton" is performed by players mostly younger and less experienced than the original New York cast and is less flashy. But it is more in touch with the fundamental scrappiness of the early years of a rebel colony turned into a spectacular democratic experiment. And in a city whose native theater is founded on truth, it is somehow very much more human and vulnerable. That Chicago-style sensibility is led by Miguel Cervantes, the superb actor in the title role. This is a company that deserves to be embraced. Open run at CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.; $65-$400 at 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com

The famously warring Hatfields of West Virginia and McCoys of Kentucky are usually portrayed in popular culture as yahoos with rifles, though their rivalry was actually rooted in Civil War allegiances. The House Theatre of Chicago, known for original works with mythic underpinnings, clearly hears Shakespearean echoes in their story. I first reviewed this huge play, penned by Shawn Pfautsch, back in 2006. It is vastly improved now, with songs that make it more of a full-blown bluegrass musical. And there's a standout performance from Haley Bolithon as Rose Anna, the Juliet of the Tug Fork river and the youthful conscience of the show. Through March 11 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St.; $30-$50 at 773-769-3832 and www.thehousetheatre.com

Stephen Karam's deeply moving play won four Tony Awards in 2016 and is a precious rarity — a Broadway drama that has actually gone out on tour. I first was knocked out by "The Humans," which tells the story of a struggling but loving lower-middle-class family sharing Thanksgiving together, in 2014 at the small American Theater Company just off Lincoln Avenue. That opening night was attended by Joe Mantello who directed the Broadway production which formed this tour. The touring cast includes the excellent Richard Thomas as the dad, Pamela Reed as the fussing mom, Daisy Eagan as the daughter who lives in the New York City duplex. This great, great play, now at the Cadillac Palace, has been protected and realized with craft and love. Through Feb. 11 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.; $25-$98 at 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com

Robert O'Hara wrote "Insurrection: Holding History" in 1996 when he was just 26 years old. O'Hara's work does not conform to the accepted rules of satire and can be hard to describe, but "Insurrection" is about a modern-day graduate student (played by Breon Azell in this Stage Left production) who finds himself transported back to slavery times. He meets Nat Turner (Christopher W. Jones), the leader of the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia. O'Hara's play is very much about the dangers of what happens when first-person memory disappears — and it clearly was way ahead of its time. Through Feb. 11 by Stage Left at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave.; $22-$32 at 773-883-8830 and www.stagelefttheatre.com

August Wilson's "Jitney" is 35 years old and predates Lyft, Uber and all of Wilson's other major works. You can't help but think about the ride-sharing present as you watch this play set in the office of an African-American car service in the Hill District of Wilson's native Pittsburgh in 1977. It's a great play, as economic as it is profound and as enjoyable as it is meaningful. Director Cheryl Lynn Bruce's production for Congo Square Theatre has a company of veteran Chicago actors, including Lee Palmer, the patriarch of the car service whose pride prevents him from reuniting with his son. Through Feb. 11 at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave.; $35 at 773-935-6875 and www.congosquaretheatre.org

If you judge a world premiere by the reaction it elicits from its audience — and why not? — then Loy Webb is a potent new voice. "The Light" is Webb's intense new drama from the New Colony, a story about a young Chicago couple and at once a love story and a cautionary tale. That is,when a painful memory of sexual violence comes roaring back to the present. Over 80 minutes in a studio theater in Wicker Park, I saw watched tears flow, Kleenexes emerge from pockets, couples move closer together and further apart. It's directed with no-holds-barred intensity by Toma Langston. Through Feb. 25 at the Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave.; $20 at www.thenewcolony.org

Director Michael Weber's Porchlight Music Theatre production of "Merrily We Roll Along" sits very smugly within the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. His interpretation doesn't range stark and dark enough for me, but let's stipulate that the abyss is impossibly wide in this particular Stephen Sondheim musical. Franklin (Jim DeSelm) is a gifted composer who likes money. Charley (Matt Crowle) is a gifted lyricist who believes in art. "Charley," asks Franklin at one point, "why can't it be like it was?" The show's point — made over and over in some of Sondheim's most devastating lyrics — is that life beats the nice out of you. "You and me," says Charley, "we were nicer then." Through March 11 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St.; $33-60 at 773-777-9884 and www.porchlightmusictheatre.org

"She the People" is a new revue at Second City featuring five women and the subtitle "A Girlfriends' Guide to Sisters Doing It For Themselves." Much of the show was penned before the current #MeToo movement, and its references to Ross and Rachel feel positively quaint. But things pick up in the second half when it snags an audience member for a game show and, inevitably and not unkindly, reveals she knows more about the Kardashians than ISIS. Up-and-comer Maria Randazzo is the natural leader here and her range is striking. She can play a CEO and a quirky, wacky woman — someone who "works with kids, animals or coffee" — and you believe her as both. Through April 1 in the UP Comedy Club at Second City, 230 W. North Ave.; $26-$41 at 312-662-4562 and www.secondcity.com

Playwright Dominique Morisseau's "Detroit Project" is a three-play cycle made up of "Detroit '67," "Paradise Blue" and "Skeleton Crew," the last of which you currently can see at the Northlight Theatre in Skokie. Set in a Detroit auto plant on the brink of closure, "Skeleton Crew" is told through the eyes of Faye (Jacqueline Williams), a worker on the brink of retirement; Shanita (AnJi White), a mid-career worker with a kid on the way; Dez (Bernard Gilbert) a young worker who can't decide what to accept and what to fight; and Reggie (Kelvin Roston Jr.), who has made his way into middle-management. Williams inhabits the conscience of the play, a really fantastic performance. Through March 3 at Northlight Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie; $30-$81 at 847-673-6300 and www.northlight.org

Brett Neveu's "Traitor" is a stimulating contemporary adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People," the action removed to small-town Illinois, the events cataclysmic and the whole affair directed by no less than Michael Shannon, the Hollywood A-lister who remains dedicated to A Red Orchid Theatre. Hot on the heels of the premiere of Tracy Letts' "The Minutes," this play also revolves around a town council meeting turned violently physical. At the center is a teacher named Dr. Tom Stock (Guy Van Swearingen) who, like Ibsen's Thomas Stockmann, is a far-from-perfect messenger of the truth. Through March 4 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St.; $30-$35 at 312-943-8722 and www.aredorchidtheatre.org

At the Pride Arts Center, the big draw at the moment is the Chicago premiere of "Yank! A World War II Love Story," as penned by two gay brothers, Joseph (the composer) and David (the bookwriter and lyricist) Zellnik. As directed by David Zak. And as performed by a fresh, non-Equity company of 11 all-singing, all-dancing men and one aptly named woman, Molly LeCaptain. This musical is about the lives of gays in the military, but the production goes light on the forces of intolerance. There is more interest here in the celebration of the resistance. Through March 18 at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway; $30-$40 at www.pridefilmsandplays.com